蛊 (gǔ): legendary venomous insect used…

Meanings

1 legendary venomous insect used in witchcraft
2 poison; to bewitch; to harm by witchcraft

Characters

蛊

gǔ

venomous witchcraft insect; to poison; to bewitch

Examples

古代传说中，蛊是一种用来害人的毒虫。

Gǔdài chuánshuō zhōng, gǔ shì yī zhǒng yònglái hàirén de dúchóng.

In ancient legend, gu is a venomous insect used to harm people.

他被她的美貌所蛊惑，无法自拔。

Tā bèi tā de měimào suǒ gǔhuò, wúfǎ zìbá.

He was bewitched by her beauty and could not free himself.

Tips

culture

蛊术 (gǔ witchcraft) is a practice associated in Chinese folklore with certain ethnic minorities of South China. It involves cultivating venomous creatures to create a poison or spell for harming enemies or controlling people. It features prominently in wuxia fiction and TV dramas.

Components

radical

虫 chóng

insect; worm

Top insect radical (Kangxi #142) — pictograph of a curled-up snake or worm; in compound-component use it represents creepy-crawlies generally. Indexes 蛊 in the bug family: 虾 (shrimp), 蛇 (snake), 蜘蛛 (spider). Here a single 虫 is used as semantic; the traditional 蠱 had three 虫's stacked, picturing many venomous creatures swarming.

semantic

皿 mǐn

vessel; dish

Bottom 皿 — pictograph of an open vessel with a flared base. With insects above, the picture is 'venomous creatures sealed in a jar' — the recipe for 蛊, southern folk magic where many poisons fight until one survives. Its venom fed curses (蛊毒). Indexed under Kangxi #142 虫 (chóng, insect) above.